A nine-year-old amateur inventor, Francophile, and pacifist searches New York City for the lock that matches a mysterious key left behind by his father, who died in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.

A married woman realizes how unhappy her marriage really is, and that her life needs to go in a different direction. After a painful divorce, she takes off on a round-the-world journey to "find herself".

Two ex-government agents turned rival industrial spies have to be at the top of their game when one of their companies prepares to launch a major product. However, they distract each other in more ways than one.

Storyline

Until he was downsized, affable, amiable Larry Crowne (Hanks) was a superstar team leader at the big-box company where he's worked since his time in the Navy. Underwater on his mortgage and unclear on what to do with his suddenly free days, Larry heads to his local college to start over. There he becomes part of a colorful community of outcasts, also-rans and the overlooked all trying to find a better future for themselves...often moving around town in a herd of scooters. In his public-speaking class, Larry develops an unexpected crush on his teacher Mercedes Tainot (Roberts), who has lost as much passion for teaching as she has for her husband. The simple guy who has every reason to think his life has stalled will come to learn an unexpected lesson: when you think everything worth having has passed you by, you just might discover your reason to live. Written by
Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

Color:

Aspect Ratio:

Did You Know?

Trivia

The last name of the lady at the bank is Gamelguard. This is a reference to That Thing You Do! (1996) (also with Tom Hanks). It is the same last name as the boy who last 'decently' kissed Faye (Liv Tyler). This is one of the last lines of the movie. See more »

Goofs

The bar code on Larry's college photo ID spells his name incorrectly as Larry Crown instead of Crowne. See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

User Reviews

To begin, I'm not sure what some of the other reviewers expected to see in this film. Larry Crowne is not a sizzling drama, a fast paced action movie, or an over-the-top comedy, & it's not likely to win a bunch of Oscars for acting, screenplay or anything else for that matter. What is is, however, is a well written, fun movie that is fairly well acted & very enjoyable.

The story does take a little bit to unfold, but does so in an organic way as not to give away too much too soon. The cast was well chosen & I found the characters to have been well developed & really fun people. Like most other films, there is certainly some creative license taken in that most everybody in it is funny and likable, which is what you want from a film like this. If only reality were filled with such great people, we should all be so lucky.

There are a few loose ends that may have been stitched up a bit better (per several of the reviews I have read) but I'm not sure that was necessary at all to the story. Moviegoers these days seem to have a need for everything to be spelled out to the Nth degree. If it wasn't critical for the story to unfold, it didn't make its way into the picture. There's something to be said for movies that leave a bit to the imagination for the viewer after the film is over, Keeps you thinking about it for awhile after you've left your seat.

I would watch it again. I left feeling good, with a smile on my face, which is what I was after upon deciding to watch it.

94 of 127 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?